Current & Future Trends in Physician E-Sampling: Managing for Superior Sales, Access, Service and Cost Benefits

STUDY OVERVIEW
Pharmaceutical product samples have long been a sales tool for introducing both physicians and patients to a company's products. While still a powerful marketing tactic, sampling programs are evolving as the traditional sampling conduit - sales reps - face restricted access to physicians as well as declining FTE counts.

In this environment, many pharmaceutical companies recognize the need for alternative ways to supply physicians and their patients with samples. One approach that has gained momentum in the last several years is physician E-sampling - a program that enables physicians to order and manage prescription samples online. To inform sales and marketing leaders involved with sampling programs, Best Practices, LLC conducted a study to identify current practices and trends in physician E-sampling programs.

This study identifies and documents current practices and trends in physician e-sampling and explores the rationale for different tactical approaches to sampling and what constitutes success in physician e-sampling.

KEY TOPICS

• Origins and Strategies of Physician E-Sampling Programs
• Launching and Managing Physician E-Sampling Programs
• Technology Applications to Enable Physician E-Sampling Systems
• Measuring & Managing Performance for Physician E-Sampling Systems

• Length of time company has been using physician E-sampling
• Number of physician E-sampling requests processed on monthly basis
• Title and department that senior-most person in E-sampling reports to
• Number of FTEs in the group managing physician E-sampling program
• Percentage of promotional budget spent on E-sampling process
• At what stage of a drug's life-cycle do you start physician E-sampling
• What percentage of company's brands supported by E-sampling versus sales rep sampling
• How often can physicians order samples through physician E-sampling
• What are the key metrics used to evaluate your physician E-sampling program

• Physician E-Sampling Is Now An Established Tactic: Sales reps are still the primary sampling channel -- but Physician E-Sampling is growing and maturing. As sales resources shrink, companies look for efficient ways to access physicians. In the benchmark class at large, 1/3 of sampling has moved to Physician E-Sampling with 2/3 still delivered through sales reps. However, more companies are supplementing rep-based sampling with Physician E-Sampling and a few companies have moved to 100% Physician E-Sampling . For most, the Physician E-Sampling system is a field tactic coupled with individual products, therapeutic area or lifecycle. It is not yet a broad-based company-wide strategy among larger companies.

Industries Profiled:
Pharmaceutical; Chemical; Health Care; Biotech; Medical Device; Manufacturing; Consumer Products; Diagnostic


Companies Profiled:
Abbott Laboratories; unichem; Astellas; cipla; Amylin; Hospira; Novo Nordisk; Genentech; Roche; Sandoz; Merck; Bayer; Celgene; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Ther-Rx; MSD; RECKITT BENCKISER; Genzyme; Ipsen; GlaxoSmithKline; Xanodyne Pharmaceuticals

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